The news that two Israeli citizens went missing nearly a year ago in Gaza has raised questions about the government's handling of the disappearances and why it kept quiet about them until now.
Avera Mengistu, 28, a resident of Ashkelon, and an unnamed resident of the Bedouin township of Hura, separately managed to cross the border to the Gaza Strip in late 2014. Their whereabouts are currently unknown.
Israel is holding Hamas responsible for the men's safety, although the terror group would not acknowledge whether they are holding them.
It is believed that both men, who are known to suffer from mental illnesses, had previously tried to enter Gaza, for reasons that are not clear.
The Mengistu family agreed to keep silent on their son's plight, under instruction from the Prime Minister's Office. Only last Thursday, after a court accepted Israeli media's request to remove a gag order, was Mr Mengistu's disappearance reported.
The duration of the gag order and the fact that the case was not officially reported to either the cabinet or the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee has sparked widespread public criticism.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Monday that the gag order had been intended to allow the government to secure the release of the two citizens quietly "as a humanitarian matter" and that, unlike in previous cases of captured IDF soldiers, "there will be no (prisoner) deal this time".
Hamas has not said officially whether it is holding the two Israelis, although unofficial Hamas sources said that neither of them were in custody. They also claimed that former British prime minister Tony Blair was trying to broker their release.
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